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The Role and Influence of Women in Calderdale
Until comparatively recent times woman played
a minor role in Calderdale, as elsewhere in the country. It was
never recognised that a woman was in any way equipped for duties
outside the home. Within the home, and in its environs, her work
was multifarious and often heavy. She was wife, mother, cook,
washerwoman, cleaner, and in many cases her additional chores
in earlier times included spinning wool, sometimes weaving cloth,
and caring for livestock and a garden. She had little time to
relax and it is small wonder that although she must often have
been exhausted she had no time to ponder her fate and to decide
upon the kind of work she would prefer to do given the opportunity.
Generally speaking this kind of lifestyle was the lot of a woman
throughout many centuries, partly because men, at least, could
see no reason for change and partly because both women and men could not appreciate
that woman could actually aspire to much more. It was certainly
ridiculous from a man's point of view that a woman could carry
out any of man's more demanding tasks. They just could not see
that any woman was capable of doing administrative work or running
even a small business, and the idea that woman could have any
understanding of politics was laughable.
Only a few women had the opportunity to give
the lie to this and they had to be wealthy, independent and well-educated.
The fact that few women received any real education ruled out
the last provision in most cases, and equally there were few
women who were both wealthy and free to make their own plans
and decisions.
Such a woman, however, was Anne Lister (1791-1840)
of Shibden Hall, Halifax. Anne was wealthy and had received an
excellent education and she was also unmarried and therefore
free to live her life as she pleased. She ran her family estate
and business in an assured and capable way and made something
of a name for herself as a traveller in foreign parts. Her diaries
tell of these journeys in some detail and we learn of her walking
and climbing hampered by voluminous skirts and underclothes.
The dangers she encountered with equanimity - and a loaded pistol.
Anne Lister is featured in the WYAS project "From
History to Her Story" and a link to the project website can be found at the bottom of this page.
.Anne Lister's diaries were written in code
but have since been decoded and we are left with a clear and
fascinating picture of her life, a life of business interests,
estate work, travel and social connections. Her independent life
and spirit are further shown by her Lesbian tendencies, which
in her day were unthinkable, and certainly not spoken of.
Numerous Victorian women struck out and made
a name for themselves as travellers and missionaries, as teachers,
scientists and nurses, but it was not until women suffragettes
fought for and finally won the right to vote that the real changes
began to appear. Since then we have seen women in Parliament,
as doctors, lecturers, scientists and lawyers competing successfully
with men in virtually every profession, and still in many cases
happily running a home and caring for a family.
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